Taiwan’s Geo-Strategy and Political Order

• Main Authors: Ching-Chuan Chen, 陳清泉
• Other Authors: Samuel C. Y. Ku
• Format: Others
• Language: zh-TW
• Published: 2011
• Online Access: http://ndltd.ncl.edu.tw/handle/81328932199166900739

博士 === 國立中山大學 === 中國與亞太區域研究所 === 99 === Decades after 1602, Taiwan was an unique stage for continual showing of power struggles of various great powers. Three ancient concepts, including strategy, political order and history are precisely the main axles connecting these historical events. Each one of these domains would have significant and profound influence interweaved with others. Geographically, Taiwan is not only the center of the first island chain out of the continent, it is also located at the top of this so call “Asiatic Mediterranean” triangle. The geographical location of Taiwan thus unpreventable made it revolving in the struggles among international powers. The action of a state definitely will aim at its national interest. The foreign policy of a nation would be set according to a guided rule which included the geopolitical code. To be more precise, the geopolitical code is one of the important criteria to identify national interest as well as adversary and to react against them. This research is based on three geological levels, including local level of Taiwan, regional level of Southeast Asia and the global level to analyze the geopolitics of Taiwan and to examine various powers which had ruled Taiwan in the history. In terms of the geography matters, the maritime power disposition, the geopolitics and the geo-economy are factors to shape up the destiny of Taiwan for some 400 years by different powers from the world. In the final analysis, based on a principle that political order would be changed following the changes of stratagem, it shows that the consideration and planning of foreign strategy would have great impact in the domestic political order and administrative policy. In one word, the geological location of Taiwan put it in the cross road of the ocean while geopolitical and economical factors confine Taiwan to be ruled by invasion powers for the last four hundred years.